The honeymoon period of Uzbekistan's now not-so-new President Mirziyoyev just keeps on going. Even hardened critics of what was once a solidly authoritarian regime in Uzbekistan are having to admit that the reform-driven new leader, who took the reins after the death of longstanding President Karimov following his death in December 2016, may be serious …
Continue reading Uzbek-Tajik higher education relations are warming up
The President of Tajikistan (his official title is now somewhat longer and less catchy: The Founder of Peace and National Unity, Leader of the Nation, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, His Excellency Emomali Rahmon) strikes a great pose and can be found in action all over Tajikistan. I've saved you the trouble of traipsing around …
Whilst popular opinion across the former Soviet Union generally remembers the Soviet period with more than a hint of the rose-tinted glasses - see this summary of an EBRD survey in 2016 or this Sputnik News story on my blog from August 2016 - one man is seemingly on a mission to upend these conceptions. And he's someone that people have …
Continue reading They cared for cattle more than kids -Tajik President recasts the Soviet era
An unusually critical article was published recently in Asia-Plus - one of Tajikistan's last remaining bastions of press freedoms - observing a worrying drop in educational standards at Kulob State University [ru], nominally one of the best in the country. Two main causes are identified: the fact that many of the better qualified faculty have left the university (20 …
Continue reading Faculty blamed for poor standards at Kulob State University, Tajikistan
I tried not to write about this. I really did. Although some of my posts have a political edge to them, I have endeavoured to keep this focussed on the impact for higher education and society in Central Asia. My aim is to keep positive, to look for ways that higher education can be improved …
